Hindus' faith in Lord Ram's birthplace based on 'Valmiki Ramayana', 'Skanda Purana': SC

The faith and belief of Hindus that the land in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid once stood is the birthplace of Lord Ram was based on scriptures and religious books, including 'Valmiki Ramayana' and 'Skanda Purana', and it "cannot be held to be groundless", the Supreme Court has said in its verdict pronounced on Saturday.

'Shlokas' from religious texts, which are of much earlier period than 1528 when the Babri Masjid is supposed to have been constructed, were referred to by witnesses and placed as evidence before the Supreme Court by the Hindu parties to canvas their arguments that the site was indeed the birthplace of deity Lord Ram, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.

The bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer, in their 1045-page judgement said, "Religious scriptures, which are main source of Hinduism, are the foundation on which faith of Hindus is concretised. The epic Valmiki Ramayana is the main source of knowledge of Lord Ram and his deeds...."